Mass organisations in Burkina Faso denounce death threats against journalists
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Norbert Zongo National Press Center (CNP-NZ) and the Collective of Democratic Mass Organizations and Political Parties (CODMPP) on Thursday denounced death threats against Burkinabe journalists, while urging the authorities responsible for security and justice to take all measures to ensure the safety of threatened journalists.
"We live in a special atmosphere at the end of the year 2020. In the memory of Burkinabè, never in the last 20 years have we witnessed so many threats against the lives of journalists in such a short time.
"In less than a month, between November and December 2020, we have recorded three cases, enough to convince us that if the old demons are not back, they are not far from it, and are cynically reporting. The facts are stubborn," said Guézouma Sanogo, President of the Steering Committee at a press conference.
Mr Sanogo said that during the night of November 27 to 28, 2020, death threats were made against Siriki Dramé, Secretary-General of the Autonomous Union of Information and Culture Workers (SYNATIC). Indeed, this day, our colleague discovered a tag on his portal with the following message: "I will come tonight to kill you".
On December 2, 2020, the home of RTB/Radio journalist Séry Baoula was hit by bullets leaving visible impacts. A moment of great fear for his family.
On November 10, 2020, the car taking investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of Courrier Confidentiel newspaper, Yacouba Ladji Bama to Ouagadougou, after a conference he co-hosted in Dori on electoral corruption, was hit with a projectile (probably a bullet) on the window of the passenger side, the place that the journalist occupied.
On the night of January 6-7, 2020, the house of the same Yacouba Ladji Bama was attacked with a molotov cocktail. His car was set on fire.
"In view of these facts, we can safely say that journalists are unquestionably in the eye of the storm," he said.
"We can never remember it enough! Crime feeds on impunity. And only the persistent silence of justice can explain the continuing threats to the lives of citizens," added Mr Sanogo.
He recalled that on December 13, 2020, the people of Burkina Faso commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the heinous murder of journalist Norbert Zongo and his three companions.
"22 years later, justice remains silent on this heinous crime. Would we want to give a blank check to all the apprentice sorcerers, that we would not do otherwise?" he queried, adding that it is high time that the political and judicial authorities send a strong signal to all those who play to scare journalists and committed citizens.
"To those who would be tempted to minimize the scope of these threats, we will recall the similarity of the contexts of December 1998 and 2020. It will remind you that the threats were specific to Norbert Zongo. At the time, what did we not hear as conjectures until the irreparable happened?"
For the Norbert Zongo National Press Center and the Collective of Democratic Mass Organizations and Political Parties, "it is more than time to stand up and face these retrograde forces that are endangering or attempting to endanger social cohesion in Burkina Faso. To remain silent and to cross our arms in the face of these repeated threats would undoubtedly be a serious mistake".
-0- PANA TNDD/IS/MTA/AR 24Dec2020
